With the success of Fruit Ninja, many clones of "swipe and slash" games have popped up in the iTunes App Store. Paper Ninja is one of them featuring Ninjas on pieces of paper that you have to slash, and perhaps it's one of the best Fruit Ninja clones out there.

Gameplay

Paper Ninja has 3 very enjoyable game modes: mission mode, training mode and Challenge mode. In training mode the sensei gives you the basic instructions on how to kill ninjas made out of paper and how to get combos. But most importantly you learn how the Ninjas hold their swords and you only have 3 lives. How the Ninjas hold their swords makes all the different in this game, and this is where paper ninja and Fruit Ninja go in separate directions. While fruits can't harm you in Fruit Ninja, the ninjas in Paper Ninja can block your sword temporally and launch their counter attacks. And this paper cut is serious. You die if you get hit!

After bidding your sensei goodbye, off you go to protect the ancient ninja scrolls because he has a date with a person named Sally. The mission mode has various levels get harder as you progress. The Challenge mode provides different variations of gameplay that follow the same objectivity. Currently the Challenge mode only has something called Paper Dance, and the developer promises more games to come. In Paper Dance, the game dumps lots of paper ninja onto the screen all at once, and you have to cut as many as you can until you get hit and lose.

The control in Paper Ninja is very similar to Fruit Ninja, and you swipe the screen to cut paper ninjas. The touch control works smoothly without any glitch. Paper Ninja a fun and delightful game, and it also has lots of potential. The game has no power-ups or weapon upgrades currently, and it would be awesome to see these in future updates. Wouldn?t you love to have a shuriken that kills more ninjas than the sword?

Graphics

Paper Ninja has simple yet well done 2D graphics. Ninjas are nicely drawn and your sensei is lovable. Animations of slashing, blooding shedding and paper ninja crumpling look very cool and smooth. While the graphics look quite pleasing, it lacks variety. Ninjas all come on the same white paper and the game has only one background.

Sound

Paper Ninja has great background music that fits the gameplay well. While Fruit Ninja had an adventurous feel to the music, Paper Ninja has a calm and peaceful music that makes you feel light and calm. Paper Ninja also has a fair amount Sound FX that adds to the gameplay experience, from sword swishing to paper crumpling. Though you can play your own music while playing Paper Ninja, the game offers plenty of BGM and sound FX to keep you entertained.

Conclusion

Like Fruit Ninja, Paper Ninja has a simple gameplay that?s amazingly addictive. It has ton of replay value and it?s a game that you can play for a couple of minutes while waiting in line. It has clean and nice graphics with awesome music and sound. If you are looking for a swipe and slash game, Paper Ninja should be on your short list.

Ratings (scale of 1 to 5):

Graphics: - 5 - Clean and smooth graphics.Sound: - 4.5 - Awesome music and sound FX, but needs to have an option to play your own music.Controls: - 5 - Very simple controls. No glitches.Gameplay: - 4.5 - Tons of replayablility, but needs more ninjas and power-ups.

Playing Hints and Tips:

- You don't need a straight line to make a combo, you can make wavy lines and still get a combo if you don't let go of the screen

- It's better to wait for loads of ninjas to appear into the screen so you can get a huge combo

Think it's not justifiable to call them "clones" doncha think? Think it's a pity for reviewers to dismiss it as clones because it makes the game seem like its rubbish, which isn't the case. I would call something like Veggie samurai a clone of FN instead because there isn't even any thought process in changing the gameplay!

I have played both Fruit Ninja and Paper Ninja and i think there's a lot more challenge in cutting objects with defense abilities... It was annoying at first because I barely got past the 4th level but... whoaa.. there's the challenge! And once you get the hang of it, it is very addictive!

Sure I think Veggie Samuri is a clone, but the only the only reason I called it a "clone" was because of the gameplay. In this case being a clone is kind of a good thing. Fruit Ninja is a great app, but Paper Ninja has tons of potential and thats what the devs need to bring out.My definition of clone is a bit different from yours. Veggie Samuri was pretty much a rip-off, but paper Ninja isn't. It is a very entertaing game. Although the name sounds pretty similar.

I just bought this game and fell in love with it. I must say... this is the only iphone game that makes my heart races so much faster. I am now a Paper Ninja apprentice!

But it is not an easy game, it took me quite a while to get used to playing it. (because I'm a Fruits addict, Fruits don't block my attacks!! Haha)

Quote:Think it's not justifiable to call them "clones" doncha think? Think it's a pity for reviewers to dismiss it as clones because it makes the game seem like its rubbish, which isn't the case. I would call something like Veggie samurai a clone of FN instead because there isn't even any thought process in changing the gameplay!

I think bombibi has a point here, that "word" will really hurt the game developers if their intentions is to bring joy.

I remembered playing Mario as my first game, and soon after, there's Megaman, Double Dragon, Contra, Golden Axe and all these side scrolling games selling at $80 each. But I don't remember people calling them clones, we love all of them!! Look at the price of the game now, $0.99?? That's obviously a steal!

What I want to say is - If it's fun and good, enjoy and share!

*But Veggie Samurai is definitely more than a rip-off, it's piracy at it's best...

Hey, Paper Ninja 1.3 is out!Features- New achievements and Special Skills system!- Unlock achievements to learn or level-up skills.&#8232;- Collect spirits in order unleash those Godly Skills.- New beautiful scenery to engage the Paper Ninjas.- More leadership charts to compete with your friends through Openfeint!- A new "No Blood" mode as requested by peace loving fans.